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information Is 2017 Crunch Time for the Domain Industry?

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Verisign's spent the best part of 2016 putting out warnings. The .COM operator and domain industry heavyweight highlighted its Q3 earnings report with a stern "Ending Q4 '16 Domain Name Base expected to decrease by between 1.5M to 2.8M registrations from the end of Q3 '16". A forecast which the company said was based on "on historical seasonality and current market trends."
Using Verisign as the authoritative source for global domain name stats, and looking at mid-year numbers from 2008 on, the trend remains clearly one of growth.
Truth is, no-one knows what's in store for the domain industry this year. What if we use charts like financial analysts do to try and understand where the markets might go next? For example, the charts on new gTLDs seem very positive. The specialist website ntldstats.com puts the number of new gTLD domains at around 1.4 million in July 2014, rising to 6.4 million a year later and to 22.8 million in July 2016.
New and ever more complex rules have been imposed by ICANN on such things as WHOIS or domain transfers, as if the ICANN-land policy-makers were oblivious to the fact that outside, in the real world, not one non-professional domain owner really understands the WDRP-related emails they get every year (that's short for WHOIS Data Reminder Policy in case you were wondering). Let alone proposed new developments like the Draft Registration Data Access Protocol Operational Profile for gTLD Registries and Registrars (!).
But even if rules were simpler and support for the industry more forthcoming, the only real growth factor remains need. If domain professionals like those investors from China continue to see rewards in putting their money in this market, and the idea of owning one's online identity continues to seem important to the Internet user in general, then perhaps 2017 won't be the year the domain industry breaks with growth...
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
One of the comments on this article raises a very valid point:

.TK Domains Michael Berkens – Jan 05, 2017 7:02 AM PST
You should also take into account that Verisign 1st included .tk domain names in their report in starting in the 3rd Q of 2011. .tk domain names are free and there last time I looked there are 25 Million of them. Inclusion of .TK alone accounted for a substantial increase in the total number of domains:

http://www.thedomains.com/2012/12/2...ewing-with-verisigns-quarterly-domain-report/
 
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After the Chinese buying frenzy by noobs and speculators has been removed from the total figures, I think the only path is still up for .com. It has so much more prestige, than most every other gtld/ngtld put together, plus a lot of the cctld, outside the local level in their country. Globally speaking. It's still the #1 goto domain to own.

I think Verisign will also do a great launch of .web.

I think things are looking good for Verisign. Providing they can weather the storm of dropping revenues in the 4th Qtr 2016. IMHO.

I was actually shocked to hear nGTLD's registrations had gone up 250% in 1 year. I wonder how many were end users? And that doesn't include the recent antics of Huge Domains, et al, buying domains in the aftermarket at inflated prices. Which is likely to push more end users to consider more nGTLD's.
 
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After the Chinese buying frenzy by noobs and speculators has been removed from the total figures, I think the only path is still up for .com. It has so much more prestige, than most every other gtld/ngtld put together, plus a lot of the cctld, outside the local level in their country. Globally speaking. It's still the #1 goto domain to own.

I think Verisign will also do a great launch of .web.

I think things are looking good for Verisign. Providing they can weather the storm of dropping revenues in the 4th Qtr 2016. IMHO.

I was actually shocked to hear nGTLD's registrations had gone up 250% in 1 year. I wonder how many were end users? And that doesn't include the recent antics of Huge Domains, et al, buying domains in the aftermarket at inflated prices. Which is likely to push more end users to consider more nGTLD's.
The promos that all the nGTLD's have been getting were absurdly good in some cases. Mere cents for a .xyz domain? A couple dimes for .top? Bulk registering any and all keywords en-masse can be covered by a single low xxx sale. I'll be curious to see if renewals for said domains are also up anywhere NEAR 250% come this year. My bets are on no.
 
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The promos that all the nGTLD's have been getting were absurdly good in some cases. Mere cents for a .xyz domain? A couple dimes for .top? Bulk registering any and all keywords en-masse can be covered by a single low xxx sale. I'll be curious to see if renewals for said domains are also up anywhere NEAR 250% come this year. My bets are on no.

Yep. I wonder how much that impacted the increase. Could we see a fall in 2017?
 
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Prices in January 2017, are lower compared to January 2016, and many will drop their domain names.
 
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Prices in January 2017, are lower compared to January 2016, and many will drop their domain names.

What category of domains are you referring to?
 
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Short domains, like llll.com, llll.net, llll.org chips in gtlds
 
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@dnk Yep. January 2016 was the tail-end of the bubble. IIRC.
 
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I actually see a resurgence in the LLLL.com arena. Heavy buying in pre-drop auctions and NameJet.

This week I sold one for $1600 and it was neither a CHIP nor western premium.
 
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This week I sold one for $1600 and it was neither a CHIP nor western premium.
LLLL.com's don't necessarily have to be either to fetch that price.

There are end users, you know. Did you negotiate or was this a BIN? I'm suspecting that you may have left money on the table in this one unless it was unwittingly acquired by an investor; then, it's their loss, your gain.

Congrats anyway, though.
 
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It was BIN at Go Daddy k/u/x/d

I don't know end buyer but they seem to be Chinese
 
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I don't know end buyer but they seem to be Chinese
Looks like it's in GoDaddy's holding account... so that can't be confirmed at the moment unless you had correspondence with them while transferring.

Either way, good sale. I forgot to up the BINs on some of my non-Chip names (such as the ones you posted) during the craze. One was BIN'ed at $888 while it was still valued at under $200. They went crazy...

For some reason, I think there's more to this one, though.
 
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I only say Chinese because the transfer could not go through automatically. My rep said that usually happens when there are non western characters involved. That is why we had to go through the holding account.
 
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IZIG.com at $850 BIN on Godaddy.com 2 weeks ago. Somep people saying that there a good future fro LLLL .com in 2017 but I don't see it yet.
 
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domains v fb

a domain name is a digital address?

so is a fb profile

fb is like the game of golf in as much a lot of business is done on the golf course and on fb

an end user buying a domain name has to drive traffic to a website via website

but fb already has the traffic just the 1.8 billion users approx and all a potential domain name buyer has to do is create an fb page for free

so its whether a potential domain name buyer wants to pay a lot for a decent domain name or create an fb page for free
 
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domains v fb

a domain name is a digital address?

so is a fb profile

fb is like the game of golf in as much a lot of business is done on the golf course and on fb

an end user buying a domain name has to drive traffic to a website via website

but fb already has the traffic just the 1.8 billion users approx and all a potential domain name buyer has to do is create an fb page for free

so its whether a potential domain name buyer wants to pay a lot for a decent domain name or create an fb page for free

This is true but also keep in mind that building a business using FB as your primary online presence leaves you in their hands. They own all the content you share on their platform and can do whatever they want with it. Should you rub up the wrong way they can shut your account down...if a competitor start constantly flagging your posts as offensive and gets his friends to do the same... boom ur account gets suspended. Basically, you are at liberty to play by their rules and you don't have the freedom to do what you want.

So the advantage is that it's free but the disadvantage is that you are at their mercy... :)
 
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This is true but also keep in mind that building a business using FB as your primary online presence leaves you in their hands. They own all the content you share on their platform and can do whatever they want with it.

Watched this happen to an antique business next door to me. They built up a profile for over a year with a good customer base then fb closed their account because it was in their business name. Took them about six months to recover.

The more control you have over your own business the better. Fb should only ever be an extension of your company, not the foundation.
 
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I don't have a facebook account, and I don't go to the site. All I ever hear about on there is a bunch of kids sending pictures of themselves, and playing music.

The verisign price increase for .net has pushed me into selling the few that I have. I might keep FU2 to comment about their pricing policy :) , but the rest can go.

I like my .gold name, but I reg'd that to use, and not to sell. I hope that the .gold registry is going to stay for a good few years. A price drop would be handy though.

I've started to register .xyz names as an addition to ( not an alternative to) .com names. I'm hoping that Google will use these to keep price pressure on .coms so that they remain at economic levels.
 
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This is true but also keep in mind that building a business using FB as your primary online presence leaves you in their hands. They own all the content you share on their platform and can do whatever they want with it. Should you rub up the wrong way they can shut your account down...if a competitor start constantly flagging your posts as offensive and gets his friends to do the same... boom ur account gets suspended. Basically, you are at liberty to play by their rules and you don't have the freedom to do what you want.

So the advantage is that it's free but the disadvantage is that you are at their mercy... :)

you have a point

its cheaper long term to create a word and buy the .com of your made up word and make it a brand

how long will domains be used?

technology is almost out of date before it becomes available to buy
 
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Who here really cares about the numbers ?

And with all these promos do the numbers really tell us anything about end user adoption ?

Up 10% - down 15% - Ranked No.2 : So what ? It's meaningless at this stage !

Have you heard end users saying 'I will chose .xyz because it has more registrations than .club' ?

Whats relevant to domainer's is the sales statistics and end user adoption, everything else is poppycock !
 
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@deez007 100% true. If someone relies totally on a platform they don't own or control they are at mercy to the whims of that co or platform.
every biz needs a website that they can build up to go along w social, brick and mortar, etc.
 
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